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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | A P R I L 2 0 1 5
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METALLURGY LANE
Metallurgy Lane, authored by ASM life member Charles R. Simcoe, is a yearlong series dedicated to the early history of the U.S. metals
and materials industries along with key milestones and developments.
TITANIUM: A METAL FOR THE AEROSPACE AGE — PART II
THE TITANIUM INDUSTRY WAS LAUNCHED IN THE 1950S AND REQUIRED THE EFFORTS OF NUMEROUS METALLURGICAL
ENGINEERS AND RESEARCH LABORATORIES, NEARLY A DOZEN CORPORATIONS, AND TITANIUMMETAL PRODUCERS,
ALONG WITH HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
I
n 1950, a joint venture was formed be-
tween Allegheny Ludlum Steel Co. and
National Lead Co. to produce sponge,
melt and cast the resulting metal into
ingots, and supply metal products. This
entity was called Titanium Metals Corp.
of America (TMCA). A second arrange-
ment was made between the Remington
Arms Division of DuPont and the Crucible
Steel Co., called Rem-Cru Titanium Inc.
The following year, a third combination
was formed between P.R. Mallory Co. and
Sharon Steel Co., called Mallory-Sharon
Titanium Corp. This company did not
produce its own sponge, but purchased it
fromDuPont instead.
Research activities accelerated
in 1950 and 1951. The Army Ordnance
Corps at Watertown Arsenal began a
large in-house research initiative under
Leonard D. Jaffe, as well as a major pro-
gram of contract research with outside
firms. Scientists at Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, began exten-
sive in-house and contract programs at
the same time. As the phase diagram
and alloy development studies funded
by various government agencies were
getting underway in 1950 and 1951, a
commercial research project on alloy
development was started at Battelle,
supported by Rem-Cru. This research,
conducted by Robert Jaffee and his
staff of engineers, would have profound
implications on the future of titanium
alloys. They investigated alloys of tita-
nium and aluminum with the addition
of a third element. Many compositions
for a broad range of alloys were exam-
ined and numerous patent applica-
tions were filed. The most promising
contained titanium with aluminum and
vanadium. An alloy in this group would
eventually become the most important
for aerospace applications.
TITANIUM SPONGE
PRODUCTION
Production of titanium sponge
and titanium metal products was slow
in getting started. In 1951, the Material
Advisory Board (MAB) of the Nation-
al Research Council, National Acade-
my of Sciences, forecasted the need
for 30,000 tons of metal products; the
total shipment was only 75 tons with
500 tons of sponge produced. This was
barely enough metal for research con-
tracts and provided some leftovers to
the aircraft industry for evaluation. At
the same time, Col. John Dick of the Air
Forcewas urging aircraft manufacturing
companies to use titanium as a replace-
ment for steel. Col. Benjamin Mesick of
the Army Ordnance Corp. placed an or-
der for $1 million worth of the metal to
help the industry get underway.
The problem was not a lack of
orders, but difficulties encountered in
melting sponge and fabricating prod-
ucts with this new and unfamiliar mate-
rial. It was widely believed that titanium
could be melted, rolled, and shaped on
the same equipment used for stainless
steel. To some extent this was true, but
the titaniumwas much more difficult to
handle.
INCREASING DEMAND
Demand for titanium metal prod-
ucts increased in 1953 under encour-
agement from the Air Force. Aircraft
companies were beginning to use ti-
tanium in new fighter and bomber air-
craft and Pratt & Whitney was designing
it into their latest engines. Producers,
however, were on a difficult learning
curve and could not keep up with de-
mand. Total production of titanium
metal products was only 1100 tons. A
voice of caution came from the Office
of Defense Mobilization (ODM), which
argued that the forecast would require
50% of the total Air Force budget. Tita-
nium promoters fought this, however,
and the ODM set new goals at 37,500
tons of titanium sponge per year.
The Douglas X-3 Stiletto was a 1950s experimental jet aircraft manufactured by Douglas
Aircraft Co., and the first design to use titanium in major airframe components.